Precious corals become more precious in the northwestern pacific: Urgent need for integrated policy

The limited precious coral (Coralliidae) resources in the Northwestern Pacific have been managed by Taiwan with a comprehensive management plan, by Japan with a strengthened set of management measures, and by China through the listing of such coral as a Category I national treasures. However, continuous increases in coral consumption and coral prices have stimulated overexploitation and poaching of the resource, and hence have undermined the effectiveness of these management schemes. This article discusses the current precious corals supply chain and suggests that the rise of China in purchasing substantial amounts of coral products was the underlying cause for overexploitation and poaching. Several gaps in the management schemes are also identified and discussed. The article finally concludes that there is an urgent need for establishing a cross-disciplinary integrated conservation policy and a regional management platform consisting of the three participating states to address all the relevant social and ecological issues.